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.ROADRACE
..World :champiOnship Superbike RoadRace'Series
Round 7: Laguna Seca Raceway
(Lett) Paolo Casoli (13)
holds off Tom Klpp (16)
In the second race;
Plerglorglo Bontempl
(8) and Mauro Lucchlarl
(12).
(Right) Miguel DuHamel'
and Mike Hale check out
the monitor during
qualifying.
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said. "Then I saw he was braking a little
bit earlier than what I was in there. I
ended up just going past there, but I
went so deep that I ended up messing
Mike up and myself. When I got down to
turn two I realized the Ducati was
behind me, so I was a little bit disappointed then because I knew it was going
to be another tough race."
For' the next few laps those watching
in tum five were privy to a display of
bravery on the entrance to the corner.
Corser would draft next to Gobert on the
straight between four and five, but the
Muzzy Kawasaki rider would simply
outbrake his compatriot. At times they
ran side by side through the fast left hander.
Just when Corser had Gobert lulled
into thinking that the pass would come
heading into tum five, the Ducati rider
reverted to the move that didn't quite
work in the first leg. This time, Corser
only just went by Gobert on the entrance
to tum three, not allowing the Kawasaki
rider to square it off and come back·
underneath.
"Last time I worked out not to go past
him, just to sit beside him through the
comer," Corser said later. "I was following Anthony for a couple of laps and I
could see that he was sliding a lot more
than what I was - which was completely
opposite from the first race. I'd got by
him a couple of times (going into five),
but he'd come by on the brakes. I realized I had to get by where I could put a
bit of a gap. 1 knew once I got in front 1
could do consistent fast laps and hopefully pull away. I swapped bikes, and
used the number-one bike in the second
race after using the number-two bike in
the first race. We found a bit of water in
the bottom of the motor, so we swapped
bikes and it was actually a bit better than
the other bike."
And that's all she wrote. Corser simply walked off into the distance, eventually winning by 6.321 seconds from Gobert.
"The rear tire was sort of sliding
around a little bit; it wasn't giving us the
traction that it was in the first race," Gobert said. "I was still trying as hard as I
could, but it was sideways in every corner. I was actually having a good time
and I think for a while there I was more
concentrating on having a good time and
sliding around. 1 was really enjoying
myself out there. I was watching the way
Troy was puI1ing away coming out of the
turns and I was making it up on the
brakes - but I knew 1 wouldn't be able to
catch him. Once he got that gap, that's
where it sort of stayed."
Hale, too, was never challenged as he
rode to a lonely third, some 10 seconds
ahead of DuHamel, who just barely held
off Nagai at the finish line.
"I tried really hard to run a pace with
(Lett) DuHamel barely bitat Nagai to the finlah line In
the second race; the pelr finished fourth and fttlh.
(Below) Troy Coreer pope the bubbly after winning
race two.
those guys and 1 just wasn't able to,"
Hale said. "The bike was really loose and
I was doing all of the sliding that I could
handle. I'm really happy with finishing
third; that was my goal coming into the
weekend, putting it on the podium. I was
a little disappointed that I finished
fourth, one spot short, in the first race,
but I just didn't have the starting procedure figured out for the first race. 1 made
sure 1 knew how to do it the second
·
time. "
Behind DuHaII)el and Nagai came
Crafar, the flu-ridden New Zealander
having a good day at Laguna Seca. Fogarty was seventh.
"I regret using that bike," Fogarty
said. "It was worse in the front and it
kept jumping out of second gear. I
should have stayed with the other one. 1
could've ended up fourth with it."
Pirovano, Edwards and Picotte filled
the top 10.
"I put a softer tire on and it was
okay," Edwards said. "After 15 laps it
was down the tubes. That's the way it
goes. I'm really disappointed. We didn't
do any testing here and we should have.
It's not a track you can just show up at
and go good out of the box."
"I had a better tire for the second
leg," Picotte said. "I just can't stay with
anybody on the exit. They pull me five,
six bike lengths on the exit. We definitely need more midrange. It's very difficult. I did the best I could with the
equipment I have. It's frustrating. I did
28s, 28s, 28s here two years ago. Now
they h,~ve better tires, better equipment...
A notable non-finisher was Chili, who
suffered his second crash of the day - this
time in tum three.
~
Laguna Seca Raceway
Monterey, california
Reauita: July 22-23, 1995
QUALIFYING, 1. Troy Corser
(1,26.784); 2. Mike Hale (1,27.205); 3.
Anthony Gobert (1:27.327); 4. Yasutomo
Nagai (1 :27.56.1); 5. Freddie Spencer
0,27.686); 6. Colin Edward. n 0,v.708); 7.
M;guel DuHamel 0,v.90S); 8. Simon Crafar
0~/043); 9. Tom IGpp 0:28.203); 10. PierFrancesco Chili 0,28.277); 11. John Reynolds
0'28.637); 12. Carl Fogarty 0,28.702); 13.
Pascal Picotte (1:28.715); 14. Cian Maria
Uverani (1:28.820); 15. Fabrizio Pitovano
0~.837); 16. David Jefferies 0,28.972); 17.
Jochen Sdunid (U9.062); 18. Aaron Slight
0:29.098); 19. Mauro Lucchiari 0,29.131);
20. Takahira Sohwa 0:29.142); 21. Mike
Smith 0,29.190); 22. Steve Crevier 0~.473);
23. Piergiorgio Bontempi (1:29.541); 24.
Andreas Meklau (1 :29.543); 25. Adden
Morilla. 0,29.591); 26. Paolo Ca501i (1,30:119); 27. AJ
Salaverria 0,30.140); 28. Doug Toland (1,33.047); 29.
M;chael Rutter 0 :33.180); 30. Mike Krynock (H5.706).
RACE 1: 1. Anthony Gobert (Kaw); 2. Troy Corser
(Due); 3. M;guel DuHamel (Hon); 4. Mike Hale (Hon); 5.
Carl Fogarty (Duc); 6. Simon Crafar (Hon); 7. Freddie
Spencer (Due); 8. Colin Edwards]] (Yam); 9. Aaron
Slight (Hon); 10. Yasutomo Nagai (Yam); 11. Mike
Smith (Dud; 12. Tom Kipp (Yam); 13. Piergiorgio
Sontempi (Kaw); 14. Mauro Lucchiari (Due); 15. Pascal
Picotte (Kaw); 16. Jonn Reynolds (Kaw); 17. Steve
Crevier (Kaw); 18. Andreas Meklau (DuC); 19. Al
SaJaverria (Due); 20. Jochen Schmid (Kaw); 21. Gian
Maria Liverani (Duc); 22. Adrien Morillas (Due); 23.
Doug Toland (Yam); 24. David Jefferies (Kaw); 25.
Takahiro Sohwa (Due); 26. Fabrizio Pirovano